Copy this down

Chris Norton, June 20th 2006, 9:49AM

So the 'Google Generation' (delightful, young people are once again defined by a multinational corporation) are all unabashed plagiarists. Stupid kids! Everybody knows the point of formal education is to learn how to conceal your sources correctly. From high within her ivory tower at Leeds Met University, plagiarism expert Professor Sally Brown is telling us (and I'm giving the prof the benefit of the doubt that she didn't just cut and paste this from somewhere) "They are post-modern, eclectic, Google-generationists, Wikipediasts, who don't necessarily recognise the concepts of authorships/ownerships."

Funny she should mention Wikipediasts (is that term going to catch on? I thought it was Wikipedians - although Wikipedophiles has a certain ring), because yesterday I noticed that The Register has recently indulged in a bit of one of its favourite sports - pouncing on anything that makes Wikipedia look a bit silly: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has been telling students not to refer to it. "For God sake, you're in college; don't cite the encyclopedia" cries the head 'pediast.

Well, Prof Brown and you teachers faced with another cut-and-paste job from Wale's baby, you shouldn't waste any time worrying that the kids are nicking huge sections of online content and slapping them into their essays. Instead please recognise that, via new technology, information is becoming as plentiful and easy to obtain as air - and then realise the pointlessness of getting a whole class of students to write the same essays again, or forcing people who swim in a sea of information to sit on artificial dry land in an exam environment.

We shouldn't be patching up out-dated assessment methods and telling kids off for rigging them to their advantage, instead we need to develop new ones to teach them more about how to process and filter information - like, should they really trust an encyclopaedia that begins its own page about itself with the line 'no soup for you'?

Tags: copying, google, learning, teaching, wikipedia, wikis
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Bringing the new web to the uninitiated

Jonathan Bowers, May 25th 2006, 10:30AM

How do you bring web developments like RSS, blogging and Wiki to a wider audience and encourage use even from technophobes?

There are still many businesses using the Internet only because they feel they should be a part of it. But efficient online contact with potential clients in this category is reliant on their embracing the forms that we associate with Web 2.0 and becoming a part of our online circles.

Well, Winelog is a new wiki site set to draw a whole new audience into the arena. It's almost an irresistible destination for any true wine lover and with a prominent blog, the chance to share each other's favourites and a firm guiding hand the site will educate many in the potentials of online communication tools without them even realising it.

Coming soon on the site is the opportunity to have your own RSS feed direct from your personal winelog.

While the traditional networking circles are still alive and well, online arenas are opening up everywhere and it's important now for businesses to make sure they are integrating into them.

Tags: web2.0, wikis
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